Method:Classic General Q&A

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:29:27 GMT

I just found the problem. Michael had said, “The CRM_Search_CustomerList is based on the Contacts table” as well as “The CustomerType field is a text field(Linked) within the Contacts table as previously mentioned” which led me to believe I needed to select the "Contacts:Customer Type" field from the dropdown list in step 3 of 9 when editing the grid filter.

But instead, I needed to select the "Customer Type" field (which I didn't even notice before). Of course I have no idea what the difference is between "Contacts:Customer Type" and "Customer Type" fields . . . and I dare say neither would the average Method user. So this 2 day project could have been solved in less than a minute with a clear explanation of the necessary selections or a simple screenshot or KB article explaining the correlation of the various entities.

Re: Customize Search Window

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:48:44 GMT

pdirect,

We are listening and are fully transparent with our users and partners in the community. We will continue to add product enhancements, feature updates and other support resources. However, if you are unable to get the exact answers from our forum to solve your exact problem, that’s why we have consulting time.

Yes, we can always make things easier and we continue to strive for this goal. Creating a configurable web platform that is easy to use is certainly challenging but we’ll keep working at it and are always open to suggestions.

The reason this forum post was locked was because Michael has already addressed this question to the best of his ability over the forum. Any further help on this topic would need to be done over consulting time.

Thank you for your continued feedback.

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:26:12 GMT

And last, what if this is an error in Method and that's why it's not working. I'm not saying it is, but what IF it is? You'll never know and I'll never have this resolved because you never looked into it. Michael said it "appeared" to work when he tried. But who knows what his setup is and if it really worked.

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:19:01 GMT

Also, I've spent yesterday and today trying to add ONE FIELD, just one. Should it really be THAT difficult?!

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:18:07 GMT

Danny, did you have to lock the lower part of the thread because you don't want me to reply any more? I'm not asking for step-by-step instructions in the forum, I'm asking for step by step instructions outside the forum . . . i.e. in a knowledge base or manual. I'm also asking for customizations to be made a LOT easier!

And BTW, when you're defending, you're not listening to your customers.

Re: Customize Search Window

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:09:50 GMT

pdirect,

The purpose of this forum is to help to guide you in the right direction (which Michael has in this post) not to provide step-by-step instructions on how to customize something specific to your company. This allows us to keep this as a free resource for all Method users. It would be impossible for us to provide the exact steps for every scenario since each one can be different based on each users requirements. If someone needs this sort of help, we are here for that but that's what consulting is.

We know that you would like this to be a standard feature but it’s not a field we have selected as a standard field for the search screen. However, you have the ability to add this yourself by customizing it. Keep in mind that this feature is something you may really need but we have to make the call as to if this is a feature that should be added to all accounts.

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:35:23 GMT

Amazing! Method will toute itself as being customizable, but then it's so difficult to customize I can't even do something basic like add one field . . . and so I need to pay for more consulting! This reminds me of the days of DOS on PC's. Sure, you can customize your computer if you memorized a bunch of crazy commands.

Instead, you should be offering step by step instructions, like most applications provide, that shows me how to do this. For example, I don't know what options you chose when you setup your filter.

Re: Customize Search Window

Method_Michael — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:11:41 GMT

pdirect-

The CustomerType field is a text field(Linked) within the Contacts table as previously mentioned. I quickly tested this out and it seems to work fine. At this point i'm going to suggest going with paid consulting if you are still stuck.

-Michael

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:54:36 GMT

I tried that already, but now there are no results shown at all no matter what view I'm in and no matter what filter selection I make. And the filter says it's a "text" field instead of a "dropdown".

Re: Customize Search Window

Method_Michael — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:47:24 GMT

pdirect-

You will need to edit the grid and go to Step 3 of 9, here you can set the filter, which should be CustomerType contains Screen.CustomerType.

You will need to add this for all the filter views.

-Michael

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:21:11 GMT

Do you have instructions on how I can make this customer type field actually filter the data?

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:05:28 GMT

I THOUGHT I was done after adding the unbound object, but now it won't actually filter based on this field . . . it just displays the list.

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:56:16 GMT

I see now what you mean by unbound object, but again, this is not intuitive. It would make more sense to drag the Customer Type field onto the grid.

And there aren't any step by step instructions anywhere (that I know of) for things like this. It's up to us to mess around with it long enough to figure it out.

Re: Customize Search Window

pdirect — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:43:36 GMT

I only wish it was as easy as you make it sound. When I click on the "edit" button for the customer type field, there are 4 steps available and none of them have anything to do with linking the field to a certain table. So that must mean there is another step I need to take to link a table to this field . . . another step that is not intuitive.

Re: Customize Search Window

Method_Michael — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:37:28 GMT

pdirect-

In this instance you don't really need to understand db tables.

When you drag an unbound drop down to a screen and edit it, it lets you select which table to use to populate the drop down(In this case you want the CustomerType table and want to use the FullName field) and when you edit the grid just take a look at the existing filters and copy how the other fields are set up with CustomerType.

-Michael